Thursday, December 1, 2016

Speaker Paul Ryan and House Republicans are planning a $23 billion food stamp cut that would take food assistance away from unemployed workers who are in school or job training programs.

Speaker Paul Ryan and House Republicans are planning a $23 billion food stamp cut that would take food assistance away from unemployed workers who are in school or job training programs.

Roll Call reported:

Republican leaders have proposed more than $23 billion in food stamp cuts in a budget plan that could be brought to the House floor in the next two weeks, several sources say.

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The proposed changes in the food stamp, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, include the end of waivers that allow some adults to receive assistance for a limited amount of time, while they are in school, or training for a job.

The Republican solution to helping the long-term unemployed isn't to make it easier for them to survive if they go back to school or enroll in a job training program. The point of Speaker Ryan's cuts is to discourage people from going back to school or taking part in job training programs. Financial aid and job training programs have also been frequent budget cut targets for Congressional Republicans.

Ryan loves to talk in vague terms about poverty, but what his anti-poverty program is really about is the forcing down of wages by making employees take minimum wage jobs that they can't survive on. The purpose of cutting food stamps for those who are trying to better themselves is to drive down wages.

The rungs on the ladder of economic advancement are being sawed in half by Republican policies that are only interested in protecting billionaires and corporate profits. Paul Ryan's budget cuts would only serve to keep people in poverty by creating a barrier to escaping economic hardship.

Speaker Ryan would rather see a displaced worker trapped in a dead end job than be trained for a job of the future. Paul Ryan is no friend to the poor and struggling. The proposed food stamp cut is an example of how House Republicans legislate to crush the American Dream.